BENGALURU: People normally get into gaming for virtual entertainment or as a stress buster. But gaming takes a different meaning altogether for Hyderabadbased Charan Bommadevara. The 21-year-old, a student at St Mary’s Degree College, is still recovering from a lengthy session of Counter Strike — Global Offensive, which he played last night. “I am not a professional gamer, but I feel I know gaming better,” says Charan, who prefers playing on PC over mobile phones. His passion for gaming, which started with video games when he was 10, became his biggest obsession. “I remember playing Super Mario and Contra, which we r e so cool,” recalls the gamer, whose favourite games are Call of Duty, Ghost Recall and Metal Gear Solid.
Like everyone else back then, Charan also started with the GTA Vice City and would often play it at internet cafes for several hours. For an average gamer, playing games is for relieving stress or to beat boredom. But not for this geek who is a ‘First Person Shooting (FPS)’ kind-of-guy. While there are studies that claim shooting games make people violent, Charan begs to differ. “Playing FPS games will ease your anger. In fact, it relieves stress,” he says. While adventure games are still sell like hot cakes, FPS games are the first choice for teens, he observes. “Gaming and technology complement each other. Games in the market are high on space, graphics and money. Without a good gaming PC, it is difficult to play.
I built my own PC for about `2.4 lakh” admits Charan, who has received encouragement from his parents. Gaming PCs need high-end graphic cards, high processor speed & storages and higher RAM. His PC has a 16 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD, Inter i7 processor and a GTX 980 graphic card. “A good gaming PC should have a good graphic card,” advises Charan. Most of the time, he plays through online servers but occasionally plays offline as well.
“I play on STEAM which has its own servers and I buy my games through their website when they have discount sales,” says Charan, who records winning his games through YouTube videos and online communities. While taking up gaming as a profession is a tough task in India with just few career choices available like being a game developer or being a competitive gamer at online events and fests, for Charan gaming is his passion. “I play games for the sheer joy of it; money will definitely come in the long run, but I don’t want to play just for money,” he says, He adds that he considers making You- Tube tutorials the best way to begin a career in gaming. For many gamers, they play to improve personal skill levels and eventually compete at a global space. “I love gaming is so much that I want to play with my children as well,” grins Charan.